Why do working class Kansans support a Republican Party that consistently acts against their interests? Frank’s simple answer is that culture has substituted for class; moral righteousness functions as an outlet for underlying anger at economic injustice. He examines the rhetoric of talk radio ‘shock jocks’, evangelicals, Fox News and right-wing politicians. Unfortunately the book is overly journalistic in places and the analysis is occasionally lightweight. Acknowledging the working class’s abandonment by the Democrats, Frank recommends a return to an old-fashioned economic populism. Despite its limitations, it’s encouraging to see a bestseller placing class at the heart of its analysis. SS

With compelling anecdotes, Bageant illustrates the complicated circumstances of the lives of the working poor in the American south, who vote for politicians who undermine their economic and social freedoms. These stories are by turns funny and sad, almost always compassionate but sometimes ruthless as Bageant explores issues such as evangelical religion, anti-union sentiment, right-wing grassroots efforts, gun control, health care, and televised sports as the opiate of the masses. The first half of the book is especially strong in its analysis of the class struggle — not so much one class against another, as one class struggling to survive. MEL

Three Rivers Press; 2008; 288 pages

Language ought to be the joint creation of poets and manual workers.George Orwell